NICKY'S STORY

Hi, my name is Nicky, I've been a member of CrossFit Fianna for just about a year now.

I suppose my story is not at all out of the ordinary, but to give you a bit of context I might start it back in 2015. Like many people I'm prone to a bit of anxiety. I thought I had it under control but in October 2015 I wasn't coping, and was reaching crisis. Looking back now, I can see how unwell I was, eating to remember what happy felt like, drinking to sleep, consistently messing up in work, whatever grasp I had on just living was slipping, and I knew it.

This pattern continued until about Christmas, when I went for a drink with one of my oldest friends, and a long term member of CrossFit Fianna - over a few beers she convinced me that it would be a good fit, I think part of my of me knew that I needed to make a change, that what I'd been doing wasn't working and more to the point wasn't at all sustainable.

Some Kettle bell Swings with my training buddy Caoimhe.

So that brings us up to February 2015, I went in with very little expectations, mostly of myself.

I expected I was going to struggle; and struggle I did. What surprised me most was the level of support from other Fianna members and our head coach Grant Moran, having someone do my last 3 burpee's with me despite the fact they had finished, someone literally lying down beside me to count my push-ups, cheering me on when I thought I was done, and convincing me that I could do things that I would have never dreamed possible, that's pretty much what a day in the box is like.

CrossFit will never promise you a body transformation, that 's just not how we work. You won't be expected to fill in a food diary and present to be graded every week like a 5th class spelling test. There will be no weigh-in's where someone will roll there eyes when you don't meet a target. No one is going to ask you to strip to your sports bra and pinch bits of your flesh with calipers to give you your body fat percentage, so you can see in numerical clarity just how far you've 'let yourself go.'

An Overhead Squat. One of the many challenging movements I never imagined I could do.

What we can promise is that you'll learn to appreciate your body in a way you never did, you will discover just how capable you are, and I guarantee that is more than you think. You will learn to push yourself out of your comfort zone and enjoy it! You will look at food as fuel to be enjoyed, not portions of guilt to carry around with you, and you'll do all of that with a team of people around you coaches and members alike, willing you on. Your goals won't numbers of scales, they'll be getting that body weight squat, or a pull up.

For me, I've come along way in a year, I couldn't tell you what weight I am, because I don't know and don't think it's helpful to constantly beat yourself up with a number on a scale, but I can tell you that I've gone from a big size 16 to a Penny's size 12. When I started I couldn't do a push up, now I'm working on my handstand push ups. And for the first time in a really long time I'm happier, healthier and more confident that I have ever been.